September Nutrition Notes: Food Safety

Food handling risks are more common than people might imagine. If food is not handled with safety, foodborne illnesses will occur causing people to get sick. There are many types of bacterial viruses which can contaminate the food we eat if not handled properly. Normally it takes 1 to 3 days for a foodborne bacteria to cause an illness. But the possibility of becoming sick can be any time from 20 minutes to 6 weeks after eating food contaminated with dangerous bacteria. Foodborne illnesses occur because of the amount of pathogens found in food we consume. We can take precautions to fight dangerous bacteria by following simple food safety rules. Some groups of people are even more vulnerable to getting sick, such as, older adults, pregnant women, young children, people with weak immune system and chronic illnesses.